Paata Shamugia

Paata Shamugia (in Georgian: პაატა შამუგია) – the most influential and provocative contemporary Georgian poet. His texts, according to Georgian literary scholars, comprise a high amount of self-irony and sometimes, even weird linguistic performances as well. In 2015, he became the first Georgian poet to get the most prestigious SABA literary prize twice. After publishing his début poem "Panther's Skin" in 2006 in 2006 (in which the author countered so-called "Georgian Bible" "The knight in the panther's skin"), he gained wide popularity in Georgian public. During several months in the Georgian press and TV, people had disputed around this book. Even the Georgian parliament members demanded to ban the book because of its “harmful behavior” and disrespect of the tradition. The members of the Radical Orthodox Parents’ Union published a letter dedicated to Shamugia in the newspaper “Asaval-Dasavali”, in which they asked the Georgian Orthodox Church to pronounce him an anathema. In 2010 Paata Shamugia published book "Preference", was commended by the critics and estimated as an author's best book. In 2015 year publishing-house INTELEKTI published Paata Shamugia's famous book SCHIZO-NATIONAL ANTHEMS, which brought him most prestigious literary prize of Georgia for the second time. The Greek translation of SCHIZO-NATIONAL ANTHEMS became a Greek bestseller, and the Greek Esquire included it among the 10 favorite books of the Greek reader. As a literary critic and poet, George Lobjanidze has mentioned, "Paata Shamugia's poetry is the most adequate for the reality of today, because no one reader remains indifferent toward his texts. For some people - and mostly for his peers or the younger generations - Paata is an idol. Some strongly believes he's a mason, godless, anti-traditional etc..." "One can randomly open SCHIZO-NATIONAL ANTHEMS at any page and find an inspiring quotation - an influential social message, slogan, motto - as the best sample of intertextuality; as an innovative, quite an unusual product born between poetic and mathematic logics" - Poet and literary critic Shota Iatashvili has emphasized in his review.